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History  of  the  Location  of  the 

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4 


Bering   River 
Coal    Fields 


By  the  Publicity  League  of  Katalla 
Katalla,  Alaska 

January  \i  1912 


History  of  the  location  of  the  . 
BERING    RIVER    COAL    FIELDS. 


BY  THE  PUBLICITY  LEAGUE  OF  KATALLA. 


Endorsed  by  the 

CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  OF  KATALLA,  ALASKA. 
CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE,  OF  CORDOVA,  ALASKA. 


The  first  attempt  to  locate  coal  in  the  Bering1  River  coal 
fields  was  made  in  1897,  when  prospectors  looking  for  oil  in  this  region 
were  guided  by  the  natives  to  the  veins  of  coal  outcropping  upon  the 
steep  slopes  of  the  mountains  not  more  than  twenty  miles  back  from 
1lie  coast. 

At  this  time  the  general  mining  laws  were  in  operation  in  Alaska 
but  Iliere  was  no  law  which  permitted  the  location  of  coal  land.  Prior 
to  1JM)(),  when  Congress  first  attempted  coal  legislation  for  Alaska, 
those  who  sought  to  locate  coal  lands,  held  the  belief  that  title  could 
be  acquired  under  the  general  mining  laws. 

In  June,  1900,  Congress  passed  an  act  entitled  "An  act  extending 
the  coal  land  laws  to  the  District  of  Alaska,"  but  through  a  character- 
istic lack  of  knowledge  concerning  Alaska,  Congress  failed  to  recog- 
ni/e  the  fact  that  the  system  of  public  land  surveys  in  conformity  with 
which  coal  land  must  be  located,  had  not  been  extended  to  Alaska. 

In  so  far  as  permitting  the  initiation  of  any  valid  title  to  coal 
lands  of  course  this  law  was  ineffectual,  but  it  had  the  effect  of  induce- 
ing  the  location  of  a  large  part  of  the  Bering  Kiver  coal  fields  by  the 
rapidly  increasing  population  which  was  being  drawn  to  this  region 
by  the  reported  discovery  of  coal,  oil  and  other  minerals. 

These  miners  and  hardy  pioneers  located  coal  lands  in  good 
faith,  trusting  in  the  sincerity  of  the  government  in  extending  an 
invitation  to  them  through  this  law  to  discover,  locate  and  develop 
these  lands,  fully  believing  the  discoverer  of  coal  would  be  rewarded 
for  his  labors  by  receiving  title  from  the  government. 

The  discovery  and  exploitation  of  the  Bering  river  coal  was  due 
in  the  first  instance  to  the  deceptive  trick  provided  by  the  law  of 
1900,  which  led  several  hundred  Alaskans  to  spend  several  years  of 
hard  labor  and  thousands  of  dollars  in  prospecting,  exploring  and  de- 
veloping the  coal,  only  to  find  that  the  title  which  they  thought  the 
law  guaranteed  was  simply  the  illusive  song  of  a  siren. 

This  was  the  uncertain  position  of  those   who  had  attempted 


by  the  location  of  tlie  coal  lends  between  1897  and  190 1  to  afford  a 
necessary  supply  of  cheap  fuel,  and  incident1  v.lement  the  supply 

of  poor  coal  in  the  Pacific  coast  states  wi  gnute.     In  li)U4 

Congress  again  reached  out  into  the  realms  ui  me  unknown  and  at- 
tempted coal  legislation  for  Alaska.  The  result  was  the  act  of  April, 
1904,  an  act  wherein  special  coal  legislation  adapted  to  the  peculiar 
conditions  existing  in  this  new  territory  was  provided.  This  law  is 
now  being  subjected  to  the  test  of  judicial  analysis  by  the  United 
States  courts,  and  a  case  involving  the  construction  of  the  law  is  pend- 
ing before  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court- 
Without  entering  into  any  examination  of  this  coal  act  from 
a  legal  standpoint,  it  may  be  briefly  stated  that  is  has  been  reviewed 
by  two  judges  of  the  federal  district  court,  before  whom  it  has  come 
up  for  consideration  from  two  widely  different  standpoints.  In  the 
one  case,  Judge  Kudkiii  reads  into  the  Alaska  coal  law  the  old  coal  law 
of  1873  which  entirely  changes  the  meaning  and  operation  of  the 
Alaska  law  and  abrogates  many  of  the  features  which  were  intended 
for  adaption  to  the  peculiar  conditions  existing  in  Alaska.  In  the 
other  case,  Judge  Hanford  holds  that  the  Alaska  law  is  an  act  com- 
plete in  itself  and  is  not  subject  to  the  restrictions  or  modifications  of 
the  old  federal  law.  Viewed  from  the  practical  standpoint  of  the  oper- 
ation of  the  law,  the  difference  between  the  two  constructions  given, 
the  act  itself  is  the  difference  between  making  the  law  effective  to 
accomplish  the  purpose  for  which  Congress  intended  it;  that  is,  to 
enable  the  acquisition  and  development  of  the  coal  land — and  the  mak- 
ing of  an  ineffectual  and  useless  law  under  which  no  coal  land  could 
be  located,  acquired  or  developed. 

-  To  add  to  the  difficulty  encountered  by  the  Alaska  coal  claim- 
ants arising  from  the  uncertain  construction  of  the  law  by  the  courts. 
the  land  department  of  the  government  having  in  charge  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  public  lands  is  attempting  to  construe  this  la\v  through  its 
rules  and  regulations  with  such  technical  strictures  against  the  coal 
claimants  that  out  of  1000  or  more  coal  claims  located  in  Alaska  not  one 
can  pass  to  patent.  The  long  established  policies  of  the  land  depart- 
ment and  operation  of  the  land  laws  in  accomplishing  the  principal 
purpose  for  which  the  law  is  designed;  that  is.  to  enable  the  citizens  to 
explore,  locate  and  acquire  and  make  productive  public  domain  in  the 
United  States,  has  within  recent  years,  and  chiefly  since  the  conser- 
vation movement  became  active,  been  reversed,  and  today  the  techni- 
cal objections  raised  and  the  unwarranted  rulings  made  by  the  land 
office  department  against  the  Alaska  coal  claimants  indicates  an  in- 
tention to  DEFEAT  rather  than  PROMOTK  the  purpose  of  the  coal 
land  law. 

The  power  of  the  land  department  over  the  rights  of  the  entrymen, 
even  when  these  rights  are  clearly  defined  by  the  law,  is  readily  un- 
derstood when  the  peculiar  functions  and  activities  of  this  department 


are  considered.  In  passing  upon  an  application  for  patent  the  land  de- 
partment is  the  grand  jury,  for  finding  an  indictment,  the  detective 
agency  to  secure  the  evidence,  the  counsel  to  prosecute,  the  jury  to 
determine  the  facts  and  the  judge  to  construe  the  law  and  pronounce 
the  sentence.  If  you  were  on  trial  on  a  criminal  charge  before  a  court 
having  all  these  powers  incorporated  within  itself  you  would  have  no 
chance  for  acquittal  no  matter  how  innocent  you  were,  nor  how  clear 
the  law  in  your  case  might  be,  if  the  court  thought  best,  for  reasons  of 
public  policy,  or  other  reasons,  to  find  you  guilty. 

In  November,  1906,  by  executive  order,  the  president  withdrew 
all  coal  lands  from  entry  in  Alaska,  and  in  1910  oil  lands  were  similarly 
withdrawn.  In  1909  the  Chugach  forest  reserve  was  extended  over  the 
Bering  river  coal  fields,  where  the  timber  areas  are  scattered  and  the 
timber  of  little  value,  its  value  as  compared  witli  coal  being  infinitis- 
inal.  Though  the  government  has  accepted  the  purchase  price  for  its 
coal  land  and  many  claims  are  ready  for  patent,  some  claimants 
have  waited  over  four  years,  not  a  patent  application  has  been  passed 
upon,  with  the  exception  of  the  Cunningham  claims  and  the  decision 
on  these  is  still  pending  on  appeal  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 
Under  the  land  office  ruling  the  coal  claimant  is  required  to  open  a 
commercial  coal  mine,  upon  his  claim,  and  though  this  law  requires 
the  opening  of  a  mine,  he  cannot  market  a  ton  of  coal  without  subject- 
ing himself  to  criminal  prosecution. 

The  secretary  of  the  interior  and  the  president  have  announced 
themselves  in  favor  of  leasing  the  coal  lands  of  Alaska.  Is  it  any 
wonder  that  Alaskans  think  they  are  being  denied  their  rights  with 
the  intention  that  their  claims  are  to  be  cancelled  pursuant  to  a  pre- 
conceived design  to  foist  upon  Alaska  a  doubtful  experiment — the 
leasing  plan — the  entering  wedge  to  the  complete  overturning  of  our 
public  land  system. 

This  article  will  proceed  upon  the  assumption  that  a  large  per 
cent  of  those  who  chance  to  read  it  are  not  familiar  with  many  of  the 
facts  essential  to  the  formation  of  a  satisfactory  opinion  as  to  the  extent 
to  which  "conservation"  can  be  beneficially  applied  to  the  public  coal 
lands  of  Alaska.  Hence  a  brief  recital  of  the  facts  will  precede  a 
statement  of  the  conclusions  deducable  from  these  facts. 

Statement  of  Facts. 

Alaska's  area  is  nearly  600,000  square  miles.  Not  more  than  one 
fifth  of  this  area  has  been  geologically  surveyed,  and  not  much  more 
than  this  area  has  been  visited  by  pioneers,  prospectors  and  others 
seeking  information  as  to  the  natural  resources. 

For  uncounted  ages— long  ago — all  of  Alaska  was  dominated  by 
a  tropical  climate,  supporting  a  flora  and  fauna  of  colossal  magnitude. 
During  this  torrid  period  the  phenomenal  coal  measures  in  Alaska  were 
laid  down. 


Alfred  H  Brooks,  government  geologist  in  his  valuable  and  re- 
liable report  for  1909  makes  a  minimum  estimate  of  at  least  12,667 
square  miles  of  coal  lands  in  this  one-fifth  of  Alaska.  It  may  be  fairly 
assumed  as  a  fact  that  the  imsurveyed  four-fifths  contain  coal  in  some- 
what similar  proportions — say  something  like  60,000  square  miles  in  all 
of  Alaska. 

The  known  coal  measures  are  numerous,  and  are  reported  by 
government  geologists  to  exist  in  ten  different  survey  districts,  most 
of  which  coal  measures  lie  far  back  from  tide  water.  Alaska  contains 
vast  areas  of  allthe  other  minerals  including  thosuands  of  square  miles 
of  coal  oil  lands,  besides  large  areas  of  agricultural  lands,  but  the  space 
allowed  the  writer  will  not  permit  statements  in  detail  as  to  them. 

Since  the  first  coal  locations  in  the  -Bering  river  coal  fields^ 
14  years  ago — numerous  applications  by  the  locators  for  patents  have 
been  made  but  down  to  date  not  a  single  patent  has  been  granted  in  this 
coal  field,  nor  anywhere  else  in  Alaska,  though  the  law  makes  ample 
provision  for  issuing  patents  for  these  lands. 

While  the  law  makes  provision  for  the  locators  opening  up  and 
improving  his  coal  claims  he  is  prevented  by  the  rules  of  the  land  office 
from  selling  any  coal — even  for  local  use- 

At  Katall'a  an  inferior  grade  of  British  Columbia  coal  has  always 
sold  for  $21.00  or  more  per  ton. 

Alaska,  notwithstanding  its  large  yearly  output  in  wealth,  is  not 
increasing  in  population.  In  view  <;f  its  vast  natural  resources  what  is 
the  reason  .' 

It  is  conceded  that  the  public  is  already  aware  that  Alaska  is  an 
exceptionally  large  store  house  of  national  wealth  awaiting  develop- 
ment. 

When  and  by  Whom  is  Alaska  to  be  Developed? 

It  seems  apparent  that  600,000  square  miles  of  Arctic  land,  buried 
in  moss,  snow  and  ice  cannot,  whatever  its  riches,  be  developed  as  rap 
idly  and  economically  as  a  similar  area  elsewhere  in  the  United  States. 

Before  the  mineral  wealth  of  Alaska  can  be  developed  it  must  be 
discovered  by  some  one,  and  the  prospector  is  the  only  man  who  has 
ever  done  this  anywhere  in  thi>  country,  even  under  the  most  favorable 
conditions. 

The  Prospector  Discovers  and  Capital  Develops. 

Though  Congress  try  ever  so  hard  it  cannot  reverse  history  nor 
change  the  laws  of  economic  necessity. 

A  Leasing'  System- 
Senator  Lafolletto  in  his  speed)  before  the  Senate  on  September 
21,  1911,  argues  in  favor  of  the  government  leasing  all  mineral  lands  in 
Alaska,  and  that  is  the  position  of  those  in  charge  of  the  conservation 
movement.    It  cannot  be  denied  that  conservation  for  protective  pur- 


poses  is  sound,  but  when  its  application  becomes  destructive  or  prevents 
or  retards  development  it  necessarily  follows  that  it  amounts  to  mis- 
application, and  is  therefore  essentially  wrong-.  Does  the  leasing  sys- 
tem furnish  an  instance  of  misapplication! 

We  cannot  hope  to  arrive  at  a  correct  conclusion  until  we  ex- 
amine the  conditions  under  which  a  leasing  system  is  to  be  applied. 
Those  conditions  are  fixed  and  unalterable.  A  brief  general  survey 
of  the  facts  will  disclose  them. 

The  most  of  Alaska  lies  in  an  Arctic  climate  covered  with  a 
dense  growth  of  moss,  where  not  buried  beneath  glaciers;  the  ground 
is  frozen  to  a  depth  of  many  feet,  and  the  placer  mines  can  only  be 
worked  by  thawing  the  earth. 

Cheap  fuel  is  the  largest  economic  factor  entering  into  this  class 
of  industries-  Without  cheap  fuel  mining  in  Alaska  can  never  attain 
large  proportions.  The  milling  and  other  treatment  of  ores,  especially 
in  the  interior,  are  subject  to  the  same  handicap,  and  this  applies  to  all 
allied  industries.  Fortunately  the  coal  measures  of  Alaska — at  least 
so  Far  as  geological  surveys  have  extended,  are  scattered  far  and  wide. 
Nature  has  supplied  cheap  fuel  in  close  proximity  to  the  ore  deposits. 

True  Conservation  Defined. 

The  doctrine  of  conservation  of  natural  resources  primarily 
means  prevention  of  unnecessary  waste.  Whenever  the  application  of 
the  doctrine  of  conservation  does  not  prevent  unnecessary  waste  it  is 
useless.  Whenever  it  produces  or  augments  waste  or  prevents  de- 
velopment it  is  destructive. 

Government  Leasing  an  Experiment. 

The  question  next  to  be  considered  is  whether  the  adoption  of  a 
government  leasing  system  of  any  or  all  of  the  public  lands  will  give 
the  largest  net  beneficial  results.  Will  it  produce  greater  benefits 
than  those  derived  from  the  public  land  system  in  force  since  the  foun- 
dation of  our  government!  To  replace  our  present  land  system  by  a 
leasing  system  is — in  this  country — an  experiment  pure  and  simple. 
AVhile  the  experiment  has  been  and  is  now  being  tried  in  some  other 
countries,  this  nation  has  never  adopted  it,  except  as  to  our  public  lead 
and  copper  lands  in  the  early  history  of  our  country.  After  years  of  trial 
it  was  abandoned  as  a  failure.  It  was  the  case  of  leading  the  horse  to 
water  when  he  would  not  drink — American  citizens  could  not  be  induced 
to  work  these  lead  lands  under  the  leasing  system,  and  so  the  govern- 
ment sold  them  to  citizens  and  from  that  time  to  the  present  day  these 
mines  have  been  worked  with  that  intense  industry  which  the  Ameri- 
can applies  to  the  thing  he  owns,  but  never  will  apply  to  the  thing  which 
the  other  fellow  owns.  There  is  a  vast  difference  between  building  up 
and  making  valuable  an  estate  for  our  own  children  and  doing  it  for 


some  other  person.  Until  we  can  induce  each  man  to  labor,  suffer  and 
worry  for  a  stranger,  as  he  will  for  his  own  family,  your  leasing  system 
will  prove  a  dismal  and  tragic  failure. 

So  long  as  we  believe  in  equal  rights  and  opportunities,  no  Ameri- 
can citizen  will  consent  to  work  all  his  life  and  contemplate  the  certainty 
that  his  children  must  work  all  their  lives  for  another.  It  is  not  the 
important  question  with  him  as  to  who  is  to  be  the  landlord,  nor  the 
amount  of  the  rent.  He  will  not  consent  to  be  a  floating  vagrant.  He 
is,  first,  last  and  all  the  time,  struggling  for  a  home — a  permanent  home 
— for  himself  and  his  posterity. 

Ultra  conservationists,  in  support  of  their  contention,  are  citing 
the  public  land  leasing  practices  in  Canada,  Australia  and  New 
Zealand,  as  instances  of  the  successful  leasing  systems  in  operation 
in  those  countries.  But  they  fail  to  mention  that  all  those  systems 
provide  that  lessees  may  purchase  the  land  at  any  time  during  the 
term  of  the  lease.  The  manifest  importance  of  the  difference  is  too 
apparent  to  require  further  comment. 

It  may  safely  be  asserted  that  any  alleged  reason  for  leasing  coal 
lands  applies  to  the  same  extent  to  every  other  class  of  public  lands. 
Apparently  the  only  reason  that  can  be  urged  for  leasing  public  coal 
lands  are:  First,  to  enable  the  government  to  raise  revenues.  Second, 
to  enable  the  government  to  regulate  the  prices  of  the  product  of  the 
consumer.  Third,  to  secure  more  rapid  development.  Fourth,  to  pre- 
vent unnecessary  waste.  Upon  broad  fundamental  principles  these  four 
reasons,  as  well  as  any  others  which  might  apply  with  equal  force  to  all 
of  the  public  domain,  whether  mineral  of  agricultureal- 

The  raising  of  revenues  by  leasing  places  an  unequal  and  unjust 
burden  upon  the  poor  men  who  seek  homes  and  business  in  Alaska.  A> 
to  regulation  of  prices  of  coal  it  must  appear  evident  that  while  none 
of  those  who  produce  coal  from  privately  owned  lands,  from  which 
all  of  the  coal  of  the  country  is  now  produced,  are  not  subject  to  regu- 
lation it  is  absurd  to  predict  that  regulations  under  a  leasing  system 
will  accomplish  the  desired  results,  and  regulation  can  be  made  as 
effectual  in  one  case  as  in  the  other. 

How  is  Alaska  to  be  Developed? 

Under  the  system  employed  by  our  government  from  the  first 
of  granting  to  those  citizens  desiring  to  own  and  improve  our  un- 
appropriated public  lands,  small  areas  suitable  to  their  needs,  we  have 
built  up  in  the  United  States  the  grandest  empire  of  civilized,  well- 
ordered,  patriotic  men  and  immense  wealth,  known  to  history. 

Under  the  pretense  of  conservation,  some  of  our  citizens  are 
urging  us  to  reverse  our  land  policies,  the  wisdom  of  which  has  stood 
every  test  of  experience  for  more  than  a  century. 

Under  no  other  policy  could  we  have  successfully  assimilated  the 
millions  of  immigrants  that  have  flocked  to  our  shores  in  search  of 


homes.  The  ownership  of  the  soil  is  the  most  potent  civilizer  known 
to  man.  The  unsold  public  domain  still  comprises  nearly  one-half  of 
the  area  of  the  states  and  all  of  Alaska's  (500,000  oqnare  miles.  Are 
we  prepared  in  the  face  of  the  foregoing  facts  to  Iea«e  &H1  these  upap- 
propriated  public  lands.  That  is  the  real  plan  of  the  ultra-conserva- 
tionists. 

How  can  Alaska  be  Developed? 

This  is  one  of  the  most  vital  questions  touching  a  leasing  system. 
Taking  it  as  settled  that  the  active  ultra-conservationists  will  attempt 
to  force  a  leasing  bill  through  Congress  at  its  next  session  it  becomes 
very  important  to  immediately  determine  as  near  as  possible  what  the 
effect  of  such  a  law  will  have  on  Alaska's  development.  Owing  to  the 
unfavorable  action  of  the  land  department  Alaska  is  declining  in  pop- 
ulation and  in  its  mining  industries.  It  is  the  opinion  of  most  Alaskans 
that  the  inaugurating  of  a  leasing  system  will  cause  a  further  rapid 
decline.  This  decline  will  continue  at  least  until  the  leasing  experiment 
is  tried  out-  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  will  spell  disaster  until 
abandoned.  Under  the  most  favorable  laws  it  will  require  many  years 
to  open  up  Alaska's  resources  to  even  a  very  limited  extent.. 

To  fully  understand  the  effect  of  a  leasing  system  on  the  de- 
velopment of  the  mining  industries  of  Alaska,  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
the  following  facts  taken  from  Dr.  Brook's  report  for  1909: 

The  minimum  estimate  of  the  coal  of  Alaska  is  set  down  as  one 
hundred  and  fifty  billion  (150,000,000,000)  tons,  and  that  the  actual 
tonnage  may  be  many  times  that  amount.  Alaska  is  divided  into  into 
three  general  geographic  provinces,  viz:  The  Pacific  slope,"  the  cen- 
tral" and  the  '  'Arctic."  The  dividing  lines  are  mountain  ranges. 
Forty  per  cent  of  the  known  coal  areas  lie  in  the  Pacific  slope  province. 
Thirty-five  per  cent  in  the  central  province  and  the  remaining  twenty- 
five  per  cent  in  the  Arctic  province.  Thus  it  seems  that  the  coal 
measures  are  scattered  all  over  Alaska.  Dr.  Brooks  says  that  so  far 
as  can  now  be  seen  the  use  of  the  coal  of  the  central  and  arctic  prov- 
inces must  be  confined  to  local  consumption,  owing  to  unfavorable 
conditions  for  transportation. 

All  the  oil  as  well  as  the  coal  lands  of  Alaska  have  been  with- 
drawn from  entry,  which  presumably  means  that  at  least  all  these  two 
classes  of  lands  will  be  held  for  leasing  if  a  leasing  law  can  be  passed. 

' '  Have  no  Value  Except  for  Local  Use. ' ' 

While  of  immense  importance  to  the  mining  development  of  those 
regions  containing  them  this  coal  has  no  other  value.  These  two 
provinces  are  f rose-bound,  snow-bound  and  ice-bound  for  eight  months 
each  year. 

The  tieing  up  of  these  coal  measures  by  any  form  of  leasing 
system  appears  too  absurd  and  ridiculous  for  discussion-  Such  a  sys- 


LIBRARY 


tern  is  sure  to  retard  or  entirely  prevent  development. 

What  is  needed  is  free  use  of  these  coals,  it'  we  look  to  sec  the 
minerals  in  adjacent  mountain  ranges  mined  and  utilized. 

Dr.  Brooks  says  Alaska  never  can  be  developed  except  by  the  use 
of  its  coal  at  low  prices.  "We  beseach  the  ultra-conservationist  to  devote 
the  efforts  he  is  expending  in  obstructing  the  development  of  Alaska 
to  saving  our  people  that  $"300,000,000"  which  ex-Senator  Aldrich 
declares  the  government  is  squandering  each  year  and  of  staying  the 
hand  of  oppressive  greed  from  further  extortions  from  the  people. 

The  free  and  interrupted  use  of  the  coal  found  widely  scattered 
over  the  interior  is  altogether  the  most  important  factor  in  Alaska's 
primitive  development,  and  development  cannot  proceed  without  it. 
Without  this  coal  the  prospecting  frontier  must  remain  near  the  tide 
waters.  The  mileage  of  railroads  is  so  small  it  is  an  insignificant 
factor  so  far  as  fuel  supply  is  concerned. 

The  prospector  cannot  under  the  present  Interpretation  of  the 
coal  laws  by  the  land  office  use  any  of  the  coal  without  becoming  liable 
to  criminal  prosecution. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  fro/en  Alaska  the  miner  cannot 
sink  even  a  three  or  four  foot  prospect  hole  without  fuel  to  thaw  the 
ground.  That  the  cost  and  time  necessary  to  discover  and  to  develop 
are  much  greater  than  at  any  other  place  in  the  country,  and  that 
hardships  are  also  much  greater.  Such  conditions  make  it  imperatively 
necessary  that  no  impediments  should  be  interposed  and  that  every 
reasonable  encouragement  should  be  extended.  It  seems  incredible 
beyond  belief  that  anyone  d;-- irons  of  seeing  Alaska  developed  will 
favor  any  doubtful  experiment  in  Alaska.  Condemned  by  nearly  all 
Alaskans,  who  are  more  deeply  interested  than  any  other  of  our 
citizens  in  the  speedy  develc;  ^r.ent  of  the  Arctic  possessions. 

Does  anyone  imagine  that  the  men  who  are  laboring  to  develop 
Alaska  would  oppose  a  leasing  system,  if  they  believed  it  would  assist 
in  the  accomplishment  of  the  things  for  which  they  are  so  strenuously 
struggling.'  The  country  will  best  conserve  its  own  interests  by  treat- 
ing these  men  fairly.  Any  other  course  will,  as  it  ought  to,  result  in 
failure  and  general  disaster. 

For  the  most  exhaustive,  sound,  dispassionate  and  authorative 
discussion  of  a  leasing  system  for  Alaska  coal  lands  yet  printed,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  report  of  the  committee  on  Alaskan  Affairs 
of  the  American  Alining  Congress.  This  report  was  drafted  by  Hon. 
Maurice  D.  Leehey,  Alaska  building,  Seattle,  and  was  read  before  the 
Congress  in  Chicago.  Oct.  27,  1IH1.  He  will  be  glad  to  furnish  a  copy 
to  anyone  writing  him  for  one. 

THE  PUBLICITY  LEAGUE  OF  KATALLA 
Endorsed  bv  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Katalla. 


A     000  631  370     4 


Endorsed  by  the 


Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Katalla 


Chamber  of  Commerce  of  Cordova 


Cordova  Dail/  Al?skan  Print 


